Silas slips into the cramped stone drain, shoulders brushing damp walls as the baby dragon squeezes after him. Above, guards shout around the vault, and blue fire flickers through the grate.
The jailer and armored guards remain behind in the vault, their voices fading beneath the rush of filthy water. The baby dragon keeps close, claws skittering over slick stones.
Orivex
Quietly now, shadow thief. I can hear them searching.
The drain narrows until Silas must turn sideways. Filthy water trickles around his feet toward a darkness untouched by the vault's cold blue glow.
Silas
The warding marks are royal, but some have been scratched through.
Old royal warding marks glimmer along both walls, their worn symbols pulsing faintly as Silas passes. Ahead, the passage forks beneath a low, crumbling arch.
Orivex
Left smells of winter. Right smells like iron and blood. Which way, shadow thief?
“"Don't worry, little dragon. The shadows are friends with me, they'll tell me the right way. Follow me!"”
SUCCESS (Great shadow sense, rolled +0)
Silas
Don't worry, little dragon. The shadows are friends with me. They'll tell me the right way. Follow me!
Silas stills beside the fork and lets his shadow sense spread through the cramped drain. The darkness gathers in quiet threads, revealing the left passage as clear and warded against pursuit.
The scratched royal marks dim behind him while deeper shadows lean toward the winter-scented tunnel. Their silent pull is certain, guiding Silas away from the searching guards.
Orivex
The shadows really do know the way. I trust you, shadow thief.
Silas leads into the left passage. Frost feathers the stones ahead, and the filthy water thins beneath his feet as the drain slopes toward a hidden outer channel.
Orivex
It smells like open sky ahead. Keep going!
Behind them, distant voices fade completely. The shadows draw close around both fugitives as they pass beneath the crumbling arch and reach the cold, moonlit mouth of the drain.
“"Don't trust me too much, I am not exactly a trustworthy fellow, after all." *I pull the rest of the chains off the dragon while we continue forward*”
SUCCESS (Fair Strength, rolled +2)
Silas
Don't trust me too much. I am not exactly a trustworthy fellow, after all.
Silas keeps moving through the moonlit channel, reaching back for the baby dragon's remaining chains. His fingers find the first clasp by touch.
With a firm pull and a twist, he tears the loosened chain free. The metal scrapes over stone, then drops into the shallow water behind them.
Orivex
You freed the rest of them! I can run properly now.
The baby dragon bounds alongside him, dragging no iron but a short length of chain that Silas unhooks as they pass beneath the frost-rimed arch.
The final clasp gives way cleanly. Every chain falls behind, and the baby dragon stretches its wings as cold night air pours through the hidden channel.
Orivex
Trustworthy or not, shadow thief, you are the reason I am free.
“"Just call me Silas. Do you have a name, or did you get captured before your mother could grant you one?"”
SUCCESS (Good Reasoning, rolled +1)
Silas
Just call me Silas. Do you have a name, or did you get captured before your mother could grant you one?
The baby dragon slows beneath the frost-rimed arch, lifting its head as moonlight glints across its bronze scales. Its freed wings fold close against its sides.
Orivex
Silas, then. I like it. My mother named me Orivex before the royal hunters found our den.
The name rolls softly through the cold channel. Orivex tests each step on the open ground beyond, free of chains at last, while pale breath curls from its nostrils.
Orivex
She told me names carry memory, and memory carries strength. I remembered mine while they dragged me here.
Orivex
Thank you for asking, Silas. Most of the guards called me beast.
Quest Complete
Escape the royal dungeon
Skill Upgrade: Thievery Superb→Legendary